Are NFTs Copyright Works? A Perspective from FSEK

⏱️ Reading time: 14 min · 📁 Category: NFT Law, FSEK, Digital Assets · 📅 Updated 2026

🎨 Are NFTs Copyright Works? (A Detailed Guide from the FSEK Perspective)

NFT (non-fungible token) technology has made digital content saleable and traceable.
But in the legal world, the real question remains:
Is an NFT a work, or merely a record?

📌 The most critical distinction:
An NFT is often not a work ; it is a technical blockchain record associated with a work.
Status as a work derives not from the NFT’s token component, but from the content it represents. 🧭 1) The Concept of a Work under FSEK: Where Do NFTs Fit?

The basic threshold for qualifying as a work under Turkey’s Law No. 5846 on Intellectual and Artistic Works (FSEK) is this:
A product must bear its creator’s individual character (their personal creative imprint or originality).
FSEK thus does not distinguish between digital and physical products; it looks for creative labour.

✅ A concise test for copyright protection:
Creative labour + individual character + falling within one of FSEK’s categories of works
= FSEK protection

So, when examining an NFT, before asking whether it was sold, we should ask:
Is the content linked to the NFT a work within the meaning of FSEK?

🧱 2) NFT Structure: Why Token and Content Are Different

In practice, an NFT can be understood as a three-layer structure. Each layer has a different legal significance:

🧩 Layer A: Token (Blockchain Record)

A token is a blockchain record that acts as a unique identifier and usually contains:
token ID, collection, creator address, transfer history and often a metadata link.
On its own, the token is usually technical data rather than creative expression.

🖼️ Layer B: Content (Image / Music / Video / Text)

This is where the main discussion begins. The content represented by an NFT:
It can be an illustration, a piece of music, a video, or a text.
If this content bears individual character, FSEK protection comes into consideration.

🧾 Layer C: Licence / Terms of Use

What an NFT purchaser is entitled to do often follows not from the NFT itself, but
from the project contract, licence text or platform terms.
Thus, the claim “I bought the NFT, so I have commercial-use rights” requires an express licence.

🧠 A small diagram to clarify the distinction:

🪙 NFT (Token / Record) │ (usually technical data) ▼ 🖼️ Content (may be a copyright work) │ (FSEK protection arises here) ▼ 🧾 Licence (the limits of the rights are defined here)
    

🔍 3) The Right Answer to “Is an NFT a Work?”

Content that answers this question in one sentence is often misleading.
The legally correct approach is:

✅ Correct answer:
An NFT on its own may not qualify as a work; however, the digital content it represents
, if it qualifies as a work within the meaning of FSEK, is considered a work and protected.

Thus, when assessing whether an NFT qualifies as a work,
we examine not the word “NFT”, but the creative content linked to it.

🗂️ 4) When Is NFT Content a Work? (By Category of Work)

NFT content often corresponds directly to FSEK’s categories of works.
The following mapping covers the examples most often encountered in practice:

🎨 A) Digital Image / Illustration NFTs

An original drawing, digital painting, 3D model, character design or visual composition
may qualify as a work of fine art. What matters is not “I worked hard”, but whether
the resulting work bears a personal style and an original composition.

🎵 B) Music NFTs

Selling a composition or music recording as an NFT does not change the music’s status as a work.
Music that qualifies as a work is protected as a musical work.
In practice, several rights holders may also be involved: composer, lyricist, performer and phonogram producer.

🎬 C) Video / Animation NFTs

Depending on its nature, video or animation content may be protected as a cinematographic work or an audiovisual work.
Rights ownership becomes more complex particularly in team productions (director, producer, screenwriter, etc.).

📝 D) Text / Poetry / Screenplay NFTs

Literary texts, poems, stories and screenplays fall within the category of scientific and literary works.
Listing a text as an NFT neither increases nor diminishes its status as a work; it only changes how it is marketed.

⚙️ 5) Are Generative / Algorithmic NFTs Works? (A Leading Question in 2026)

In generative NFT collections, an algorithm produces content in different combinations.
Here, the debate about work status has two dimensions:

• 👤 Where is the human contribution?
  (Creative preferences, rules, composition logic of the person who designed the algorithm)
• 🎛️ Do the results bear individual character?
  (Is the output entirely random, or does it consist of variations of a creative design language?)

📌 Practical assessment:
If a collection establishes a creative design system and its outputs bear that style,
the argument for work status becomes stronger.
For fully automated variations lacking individual character and merely copying one another, however, that argument may weaken. 👤 6) Is the Person Who Mints the NFT the Author?

No; minting is a technical process. Authorship arises through creative production.
Thus, if someone takes another person’s image and mints it as an NFT:

• They may have created the token
• But they do not become the author of the work
• There may even be a risk of infringement due to unauthorized use

✅ The author of the work is: "the creator".
❌ The person minting the NFT: may merely record or list it. 📦 7) Selling an NFT = Selling the Work? (FSEK’s Approach)

This is the area that causes the most conflict in practice.
In most cases, an NFT sale is
a transfer of the token.
This does not automatically transfer the economic rights under FSEK, such as reproduction, distribution or communication to the public.

Under FSEK’s approach, assignment or licensing of economic rights:
requires a clear, specific and valid contractual intention.
Thus, “I bought the NFT, so everything became mine” is not a legally correct approach.

🧾 Practical rule:
NFT sale = control comparable to token ownership
Copyright = only if expressly provided for by a licence or assignment 🛡️ 8) What Rights Arise If the NFT Qualifies as a Work? (Economic + Moral)

If the content represented by an NFT qualifies as a work, the author’s rights protected under FSEK come into play.
These rights fall into two main groups:

💰 A) Economic Rights

Economic rights allow the economic exploitation of a work. Those most often discussed in the NFT context are:

• 🖨️ Reproduction right: Copying the content (downloadable files, high-resolution reproductions, etc.)
• 📦 Distribution right: Distribution of copies (sale, extension of transfer)
• 📡 Right of communication to the public: Making the content accessible online (website, platform, social media)

🧿 B) Moral Rights (Rights Linked to the Author’s Personality)

Moral rights protect the bond between the author and the work:
they matter in areas such as attribution and protection against changes to the work.
In NFT disputes, the author’s name or pseudonym and manipulation of the work are particularly prominent issues.

🚫 9) NFT Scenarios That Do Not Qualify as Works (Common in Practice)

The following content does not always qualify as a work; it may remain mere data or simple output:

• 📊 Tokens consisting solely of metadata
• 🧾 Images generated automatically from standard templates, without individual character
• 🔁 Identical, mass-produced variations involving no creative choices

📌 Remember:
FSEK looks not for the NFT label, but for creative originality.

✅ Conclusion: Are NFTs Works?

From the FSEK perspective, the correct result can be summarized as follows:

• 🪙 NFT (token/record): usually a technical record that may not qualify as a work on its own.
• 🖼️ Content represented by the NFT: if it bears individual character, it qualifies as a work and receives FSEK protection.
• 🧾 Limits of rights: an NFT sale is not a copyright assignment; the licence or assignment must be expressly provided for.

🔎 Expert conclusion:
NFT is a technology; what FSEK protects is the creative content built on it.
Thus, not every NFT is a work, but the content represented by many NFTs may qualify as one.

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